When Microsoft's Windows Chief Steven Sinofsky hit the road last month, Julie Larson-Green stepped in as the new sheriff in town (as far as Windows 8 goes, anyway). Larson-Green didn't inherit an easy role, so it's fair to ask: Can she fill Sinofsky's shoes?

Larson-Green, who has worked for Microsoft for 20 years and led the introduction of huge ideas like the ribbon interface for Microsoft Office, recently interviewed with Tom Simonite at MIT Technology Review in an attempt to offer insight on what it's like to grab hold of Windows' biggest redesign and attempt to bring everyone on board with the new look and feel.

According to Larson-Green, so far, so good. While Sinofsky was a strong force in the Windows environment with a brilliant mind and explosive personality, Larson-Green insists that "not much" has changed since she took over his position.

"I've worked directly with Steven for seven years but known him for the whole 20 years I've been at Microsoft," said Larson-Green. "We think a lot the same about what the role of Windows is in society, what computing looks like, and getting people on board with that point of view."

Getting everyone on board hasn't been easy. Windows has had a solid user interface design since Windows 95, which was the start of a more object oriented interface. Users had become accustomed to this for nearly two decades, and Windows 8 flipped that entire concept on its head.

Julie Larson-Green [Image Source: Microsoft]

Windows 8 features what was once called the Metro style user interface, with colorful live tiles and a repositioned Start button. The new design was mainly for touch purposes in mobile products like Microsoft's Surface and Windows Phone 8, but some have had a hard time digesting this new look for desktop use. So why the radical change?

"When Windows was first created 25 years ago, the assumptions about the world and what computing could do and how people were going to use it were completely different," said Latson-Green. "It was at a desk, with a monitor. Before Windows 8 the goal was to launch into a window, and then you put that window away and you got another one. But with Windows 8, all the different things that you might want to do are there at a glance with the Live Tiles. "

She added the importance of touch on desktops as well as mobile devices to enhance the experience of using Windows 8, while still giving users the option to have a keyboard and mouse. She said it takes people anywhere from two days to two weeks to get adjusted to all the changes in Windows 8, depending on how invested they were in the traditional versions.

This brings us to the Surface tablet, which is Microsoft's first homemade hardware running Windows. Larson-Green addressed the new product briefly (nothing about sales numbers or demand, which have been in speculation lately).

"It was a way to test our hypothesis of a new way of working," said Larson-Green. "It takes time for individuals to adjust, but it also takes time for the industry to adjust to new things—all the complicated things about the supply chain and issues like what sizes of glass gets cut. Surface is our vision of what a stage for Windows 8 should look like, to help show consumers and the industry our point of view on what near perfect hardware would look like."

Sinofsky, former president of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division, announced that he was leaving the company last month after a little over 23 years with the tech giant. It was reported as a "sudden" move that no one expected, but details about the departure show that the decision was contemplated for a while and even backed by Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates.

While Sinofsky was seen as a brilliant figure at Microsoft, his downfall was that he didn't get along with others within the company. He was notorious for picking fights with other executives, including current CEO Steve Ballmer, and even pushed former executives like chief software architect Ray Ozzie to quit.

After almost 2 years I still have to hunt for things in that damn ribbon. Ribbons and tiles and touch! Oh my! I guess if all you do is sit in Facebook or chat or email they are fine. Also, from the sound of the article, we should be glad we can still use a keyboard and mouse! I would not be surprised if they tried to gut them within the next release or two.

Change for an improvement is one thing but I have yet to see any real improvement? I have seen a lot of detriment though. So, why change simply for change sake?

Assuming by the Facebook comment you use your computer for more then just Facebook, chat, and email...

It's taken you more then 2 years of regular use to learn to effectively use a peice of computer software? If you use computers every day you are in the wrong industry.

I'm pretty sure there are some elementary school kids that probably use windows 8 better then everyone who complains about it. What does that really say about them? Is Windows 8 bad? Or are they less compitent at learning new skills then 8 year olds?

quote: She added the importance of touch on desktops as well as mobile devices to enhance the experience of using Windows 8, while still giving users the option to have a keyboard and mouse.

This is why Windows 8 will never be adopted by corporations. Touch on the Desktop PC or Laptop is WORTHLESS. Hold your arm straight out in front of you for several minutes and you'll realise why - the physical exertion needed to use a touch monitor is ludicrous compared to a mouse. It's inefficient and ungainly. This is just Microsoft playing the Apple "you're holding it wrong" game to avoid looking like morons.

Windows 8 is not terrible - it just needs Windows 9 to reorient the desktop edition to being on...a desktop.

quote: Hold your arm straight out in front of you for several minutes and you'll realise why - the physical exertion needed to use a touch monitor is ludicrous compared to a mouse. It's inefficient and ungainly.

That's if you're stuck in the old paradigm. Many of my employees could benefit by a 10" mobile device rather than having to go back to their desks to use a desktop.

Granted they won't be power users, the CAD guys or people typing tech manuals, but for the employees who only need casual email and to check logistics software, it's quite a valid option.

quote: That's if you're stuck in the old paradigm. Many of my employees could benefit by a 10" mobile device rather than having to go back to their desks to use a desktop.

You are talking about the group of people who are better off using a tablet (or PDA, or slate, or smartphone, or what ever mobile computing device people have been using for years) then a desktop. The original quote is talking about desktop and laptop users.

Just to be clear, the complaint is never (in my experience) that Windows 8 is bad for tablets. It is always that Windows 8 did bad things to desktops.